2 comments to ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON THE GREENBELT: CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Friends of Durham Green Belt Group is meeting on Wed. 29th Jan. and will be compiling a submission to the APPGGB as Durham County Council is including three key sites on Durham Green Belt for house-building in the new County Durham Local Plan. The Plan has yet to go to Examination in Public, but the final stage of Consultation has taken place. Friends of Durham Green Belt have submitted objections to development of over 4,000 houses on the Green Belt.

Local Plans and the NPPF sets out the five purposes that the Green Belt serves.
They have served communities well, particularly to prevent urban sprawl and the coalescence of settlements.
There are still many brownfield sites that lie derelict for too long often for commercial reasons and should be requisitioned after a period of time if owners fail to sell the land for housing.
Not all Green Belt land meets the five purposes in Chapter 9 of the NPPF – the grading of such land ( significant, medium value and poor)should be undertaken in order to classify the land and accurately identify its Green Belt status.